First Pitch: McCann off to slow start

NEW YORK -- Brian McCann did the same thing Robinson Cano did. McCann played his whole career in the Braves organization before signing with the Yankees for $85 million.

So while the Bleacher Creatures decided that Cano is a sellout, there is no difference between what Cano did -- taking an extra $65 million to go west -- and what McCann did. McCann even grew up just a half-hour from Turner Field.

#34 CNew York Yankees

2014 STATS

GM23

HR3

RBI9

R11

OBP.267

AVG.224

Can you really quibble with a player going for more dough? They both made business decisions. For Cano, the money difference was stark. It was unclear whether the Braves were ever going to make McCann an offer.

That brings us to today, and McCann's slow start at the plate. One that, until now, has mostly been overlooked.

McCann is currently hitting .224, with three home runs and nine RBIs. He is a career .276 hitter.

Historically, McCann usually starts to heat up in May. In his career, he is hitting .314 in May -- the only month he is over .300.

April usually is one of McCann's poorer months -- he bats .264. The only months he is worse in are August (.262) and September (.252), which makes sense because that is when he figures to wear down as a catcker.

So maybe this is just a slow start, and nothing out of the ordinary? But McCann hasn't done much with the bat yet. It is not alarming. But it is something to watch.

The shift just seems to kill him, taking away so many hits. Still, it can't be much different than what National League teams did to him.

Defensively, McCann has been good. Manager Joe Girardi and the pitchers rave about the way McCann works a game.

On Deck: Rain, rain and more rain. That is what the forecast calls for, so it remains to be seen if Wednesday night's game will be played. Roenis Elias (1-2, 3.54) versus David Phelps (0-0, 3.86) is your scheduled pitching matchup.

Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »

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Wallace Matthews

Wallace Matthews has covered NY sports since 1983 as a reporter, columnist, radio host and TV commentator. He joins ESPNNewYork to cover the Yankees, which he's done since the days of Stump Merrill for Newsday, the New York Post, the New York Sun and ESPN New York 98.7 FM.

Andrew Marchand

Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork.com. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years as a sports writer at the New York Post.